Foley 1
Brennan Foley
10/18/07
English 1
Mr. Volz
The Reality of War Cannot be Communicated
Throughout war man often loses his ability to communicate. Usually soldiers in war do not communicate about the war because it reminds them of the reality of war, and they must not communicate their’s true feelings to others. Throughout All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Reamaeque portrays the characters’ difficultly communicating the reality of war, and struggling to express their feelings to their families and to others.
It was difficult for Paul to return home after seeing the reality of war. An example of this would be Paul’s conversation with his mom in chapter seven: ‘Was it bad out there Paul?’ Mother, what should I answer to that! You would not understand, you could never realize it. And you should never realize it. Was it bad, you ask.-You, Mother,- I shake my head and say: ‘No, Mother not so very. There are always a lot of us together so it isn’t so bad.’(Remarque 161) Paul represses his true feelings from her. He lies to his mom because he knows that she would never understand, because she has never experienced the reality of war. Reamaeque expresses Paul’s thoughts differently than what words were quoted. Paul’s thoughts have deep emotion, while the words quoted do not have any. Paul represses his true feelings about the reality of war from other family members too.